


Divided We Fall X United We Stand

by HatakeKaede



Category: Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom, X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: AVX: Consequences, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers vs X-men, BAMF Matt Murdock, Cyclops Was Right, Emma Frost Has a Heart, F/M, Hurt Scott Summers, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Justice for Scott Summers, Lawyer Matt Murdock, Mutant Politics, Mutant Rights, Professor Xavier is a Jerk!, Scott Summers Is A Good Leader, Scott Summers Needs A Hug, Swearing, mean!avengers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:47:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23736361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HatakeKaede/pseuds/HatakeKaede
Summary: Mutants have been hunted, persecuted and killed ever since their existence became public knowledge among their human predecessors. No wonder that in the aftermath of the messy Avengers vs. X-men war, it's their once leader's - Scott Summers' - turn to be slaughtered. Away from the eyes of the public, in the depths of a murky prison where the authorities had him thrown into general population. It's just a matter of when. Or is it? Will some of his once friends and enemies rally together to save him?
Relationships: Alex Summers & Scott Summers, Emma Frost/Scott Summers, Kitty Pryde & Scott Summers, Logan & Scott Summers, Rogue & Scott Summers
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been almost a year since I've read Avengers vs. X-men and the way they treated Cyclops in that and its aftermath still makes me angry, so here's my response.
> 
> Some notes on continuity:  
> \- this takes places during AVX: Consequences a short while after the scene between Scott and Logan in the prison, however some events from AvX as well as AVX: Consequences might be somewhat different or at least seen from a different POV than in the comics  
> \- X-Men characters are based purely on comics, it's more of a mixed bag with Daredevil and the Avengers  
> \- Matt Murdock is mostly based on the Netflix TV show and his role is important here, but he's here to be the lawyer Matt Murdock, not Daredevil  
> \- Avengers are a mix of comic and movie continuity, please note that I don't hate them, but it's hard not to see them as the villains in terms of AvX and its aftermath if you're an X-men fan  
> \- Emma and Scott's telepathic connection is broken but not their powers and Emma was not held prisoner by the New Defenders for long as Magneto and Ilyana busted her out prior to this story  
> \- there might be also some smaller continuity issues with this, so bear with me - some as fringe as Hawkeye's hearing aids (I know that Fraction's run and Clint getting deafened happens way after AVX: Consequences, but I had to give him purple hearing aids anyway for some reason

The light in the office had long since been turned off, concealing that there was still a figure leaning over a folder on the desk, his fingers quickly brushing over the Braille script drinking in the facts of his latest case. Even engrossed as he was in his reading, his sensitive hearing didn’t let Matt Murdock miss the sound of metal scraping on metal behind the window. Before he could approach the first unwelcome guest, he could feel the paper under his hands move slightly with the wind that the people who had just teleported into his office brought with them. Two heartbeats. The vanishing tinge of the dangerous fire they had played with and the ill reek of a deathly dimension, trying to hide under a cloud of Dior’s _Jasmin des anges_ perfume.

“Well, if it isn’t Emma Frost and Ilyana Rasputin themselves,” Matt started, trying to think of how to get the advantage on his side: “I’d invite you in, but as you’ve already let yourselves in…”

“Permission to stab him?” the demon girl asked.

“Denied. We need him, remember?”

“I would be more inclined to believe that if you didn’t have one of your associates pointing a piece of metal at me,” Daredevil jumped in as he pushed his chair a little further back to get out of the trajectory of whatever Magneto intended to use as a missile.

Matt could practically hear Emma’s lips forming into a bemused smile.

“Given our fugitive status I think you can understand that we needed to make certain precautions if we wanted to stop you from bringing the whole self-righteous band of Steve Rogers’ cretins down on us before we could talk to you,” the telepath explained.

Matt stood up and helped himself to a glass of water from the sink, acutely aware both of the master of magnetism keeping guard behind the window and the girl with the huge sword that was oozing its mistresses’ hate in his direction. Surprisingly he couldn’t feel any mind probe or telepathic attack trying to crash through his skull. He took in a deep breath in order to take a better sniff off Emma’s emotions. A rather unusual mix of embarrassment, anticipation and hope? Not anything that he would have expected from the once White Queen.

“Then talk,” he said as he sat back in his chair, feet up on the table and his arms crossed across his chest in his best _‘I have not just called in the Avengers’_ pose.

“Give him the files, Ilyana,” the telepath nudged her associate.

A thick folder hit the surface of his desk with unnecessary force.

“What’s this?” Matt inquired.

“All the information you need in order to get Scott Summers acquitted of the murder of Charles Xavier and any other crimes that dimwit Tony Stark tries to put on him,” Emma spat out, the venom in her voice increasing when she uttered Iron Man’s name.

“And you expect me to do that because…?” Matt raised his eyebrows.

Emma didn’t get to give her answer as the glass of the office window shattered and Matt barely managed to push the two women out of the way of the shrapnel falling in, jumping in on pure adrenaline. Magik untangled herself from his grasp quickly as she muttered about how his heroics were not necessary as she was just about to teleport the two of them to a safer spot in the office.

Any further arguments were however broken off by the steady voice of Erik Lehnsherr cutting in: “We expect you to do it, Mr.Murdock, because despite your current faulty allegiances, deep down you’re the kind of lawyer who would never let an innocent man rot or die in prison.”

“Emma, you better do your thing, we’ve got incoming,” Magneto turned his attention to his fellow mutants.  


****

The next thing Matt knew, he opened his eyes with a headache which compared to the one from the night when he naively agreed to a drinking contest with Logan. He took off his glasses and pushed the palms of his hands into his eyeballs. His head almost exploded as Iron Man crash-landed through his broken window and Captain America’s shield trashed through the front door with Hawkeye and Black Widow rushing in behind him.

“Where are they, Matt?” Tony Stark demanded. 

“Who?” the lawyer asked, rattled as anyone who had just been reading through some case files would be when half of the Avengers' roster stormed their office.

Another man whose identity was easily disclosed to Matt by the distinct smell of cigarettes and beer walked in and sniffed the air.

“They’ve been here,” he growled.

“Which ones?” Steve questioned.

“Frost, Magik and Magneto.”

Matt shook his head as he muttered: “I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I was just catching up on some case files when you idiots burst in. I’m having my assistant send the bill for that window to you, Stark, by the way.”

“Well, that’s all jolly good fun, but your window happened to already be broken when I flew in thinking that you had just been attacked by some rather psychotic mutants,” Iron Man returned the blow.

“I suspect you’re having a hell of a migraine right now,” Wolverine suggested.

Matt frowned as the cogs and wheels in his brain started turning.

“You mean?” he half-asked.

“And now he catches on,” Tony said and started clapping before he was shut off by Steve Roger’s irritated exclamation of ‘Tony’.

Matt stood up from his chair quickly, staggering a bit under the pressure behind his eyes. Natasha jumped in and steadied him. He murmured a silent thanks as he turned to Steve.

“Call in Foggy and ask him to make sure that nothing has been stolen from here,” Matt tried instructing Captain America.

“Already done,” Tony broke him off. “Now let me haul your ass to Avenger’s Tower so that Bruce can make sure that Frost didn’t do you any permanent damage.”

Clint who had been scanning the content of the desk picked up the thick red file and asked curiously: “What’s this?”

“No idea,” Natasha replied. “But it looks like a case file to me. Why?”

“I don’t know,” Hawkeye replied, his right hand playing with the settings of his purple hearing aid. “But it feels out of place.”

Natasha looked around the office and had to agree with her friend, while the folders in Foggy’s part of the office were obviously color coded, the ones in Matt’s corner were mostly in shades of black, using different materials so he could distinguish them from each other by touch alone.She let go off Matt and motioned to Clint to pass the folder over. She briefly turned a few pages over with Tony who had opened his Iron Man helmet to get a better look peering over her shoulder.

“It’s in Braille,” he said. “I doubt Summers’ band of renegades dropped in just to deliver a case file. As for the color, coincidences do happen. Not everything is a super spy conspiracy. Let’s get Daredevil here into safety, the best clue we will find now has to be in his brain anyway.”

“I want to try to pick up their scents and follow them,” Wolverine suggested.

The other Avengers exchanged a series of tired looks, acutely aware how much the man wanted to catch the people who were putting a black mark on the entirety of his race.

“Face it, Logan. With the Magikbus they could be half across the world by now,” Tony stepped in, figuring that the defeated news better come from a source that the hairy fellow already disliked as it was.

The short man grunted, but didn’t pursuit his request any longer.

*****

Scott was sitting on the floor of his cell, still reeling from his earlier conversation with Logan. His pondering about the next steps got interrupted by some ruckus happening in front of his cell. Two of the guards argued with a third one, whose voice he didn’t recognize.

“The prisoner isn’t allowed to leave his cell,” one of his usual wardens told the newcomer.

“I’ve got permission from the highest places,” the mysterious man said and Scott could hear the rustling of a paper as the man provided some kind of proof.

He finally lifted his eyes from the ground to get a look at the fresh arrival. Two hundred pounds of pure muscle, an opponent that the older Summers brother might take on one of his better days, but certainly not with his hands shackled and his optic blasts neutralized. 

“If you want to hear my opinion you should just put the damn mutie freak in front of a firing squad and be done with it,” one of the prisoners shouted from a cell at the end of the floor.

The muscled man grabbed him by the elbow, he didn’t give him the pleasure of flinching. He had been used to getting pushed around long before the inmates and guards of this particular prison decided to take out their hatred of mutant-kind on him.

He almost laughed at the irony of it all. Just as he had been starting to think that he might still be of some use to the mutant cause beyond martyring himself, they had come for him. At least they decided not to rely on some thugs to get the job done and sent in a professional. Maybe a clean death was the best he could hope for these days.

The man dragged him to one of the interrogation rooms and made a show of throwing Scott against the wall before closing the door behind them.  
The mutant gathered himself and stood up.

“I guess this is where you kill me?” his calm voice was bouncing off the walls of the empty room.

The warden looked at his nails in a manner that seemed mildly familiar to him.

“Not really, darling,” the words sounded almost comical coming in the man’s rough drawl.

“Emma?” he asked, astonished. They had lost their telepathic connection in the ashes of the Phoenix fire, albeit he still wasn’t sure if it was brought about by his betrayal or ripped away from them by the cosmic force itself.

“Yes. I hope you excuse the poor choice of attire.”

“You shouldn’t be here. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to have come here?”

“Relax, I’m in a safe distance with a teleporter by my side.”

“Ilyana is with you?”

“Erik too.”

“What about Piotr?”

“He and Namor are both in the wind.”

He pursed his lips at the mention of the Prince of Atlantis.

“Listen, we really don’t have much time. I wish I could be more subtle about approaching you, but that power dampener is probably equipped with some kind of telepathy repellent and I don’t want to raise any alarm bells,” the former White Queen explained gesturing towards the metal bind that the guard had secured around his neck when he brought him his meal after Wolverine had walked out. He had wondered what the point of replacing the orange head gear they had originally equipped him with this slightly more comfortable inhibitor was. Only now did he realize that its aim might have been to stop him from receiving any kind of psychic contact. He turned his hazel eyes on the woman he now supposed was his ex-girlfriend.

“Emma, when I took the Phoenix force away from you,” he interrupted her and after searching for the right words continued: “What I want to say is I understand if you want to punch me right now.”

“No, darling,” she said as she put one of the guards’ thick fingers against his lips. “Whatever you took away from me, you’ve had worse taken away from you before. And I know you, Scott Summers and having felt how that kind of betrayal feels you will never stop kicking yourself for inflicting it on me even though you did it for the right reasons. I think that’s punishment enough.”

He gave her one of his sheepish smiles.

She slapped his cheek.

“Now, this one you fully deserved. Suicide by Logan, really? Next time you decide to off yourself could you at least have the decency to choose a more elegant method? Preferably one that doesn’t unleash an even crazier Wolverine on the world.” 

“Let’s talk shop now,” the blonde suggested.

“Right. Is this where Magneto and Magik break us out of here?” he asked, making sure to start using code names to show that he had fully switched back into mission gears.

“Nope.”

“You realize that the moment I walk back in there, I’m dead meat, right?” Scott questioned.

Emma pursed the guards’ thick lips: “You weren’t against that course of action yourself a few hours ago.”

As he opened his mouth to reply, she raised a hand to cut him off.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…I’m so angry with you about that, Scott and I let myself get carried away…”

“Huh. You’re not angry with me about the Phoenix, but you’re mad about that?”

“Yes! I can’t bring myself to blame you for actions you took under the influence of a cosmic force that I couldn’t control myself, but I’m allowed to be furious with you about wanting to throw your life away.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter. We need to get back on point,” she said, visibly upset with herself about letting so many emotions seep through into the conversation. 

“Okay. What’s the plan?” Scott asked, trying to get her back on a topic that would make her feel in control of the situation.

“We don’t get you out. Well, we do. But we go through the proper channels.”

“You mean a trial?” Cyclops inquired his voice unusually quiet.

“Yes.”

“Emma, I’m hardly innocent in all of this.”

“Scott, you don’t really believe that you have murdered Charles?”

His eyes glazed over at the mention of his former mentor.

“No, “ he sighed. “But I can’t deny that the actions I took brought us to a moment where one of us had to die.”

“No more than he or anyone who knew the whole story could refute that Charles played a major role in the path that led you to take those very decisions,” she argued fiercely.

"The whole story? You mean...," he trailed off, his expression unreadable despite his newly visible eyes.

"I mean everything."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that."

"I know," she said softly. "But it's your get out of jail card. And we need you out there. I’ve survived one genocide too many, Scott. I’d prefer not having to claw my way out from the rubble of another one.”

He breathed out harshly.

"Alright," he said not meeting her blue eyes. "But how?"

"I might have nudged a former enemy and your brother lightly," Emma answered with a ghost of a wicked smile on the guards' lips.

Before Scott could get in any further questions, she stopped him frowning: "Oops. We're out of time."

“Why are we here?” the guard blinked, shooting Scott a perplexed look.

The mutant leader shrugged his shoulders.

“You tell me,” he answered, inwardly preparing himself for the fight that might arise.

The other man furrowed his brow as he said: “I came to move you. Your lawyer has managed to arrange a place in solitary confinement for you, away from genpop.”

“What lawyer?”

“A certain Matthew Murdock.”


	2. Chapter II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know little to nothing about US judicial system, so bear with me. Let's pretend that this is an Earth 616 specific system or something.

Alex braced himself before entering the house. He knew he was about to walk into yet another argument between Rogue and Wanda. There was no denying his friend’s just anger at the Scarlet Witch, but at the same time he had been named the leader of this new outfit with the aim of getting the mutant superheroes and Avengers to work together. This meant turning over a new leaf and no longer harboring negative emotions about some past misgivings and deeds. With Scott having gone over to the dark side, this was the younger Summers brother’s turn to take on the responsibility of proving to the world that their race didn’t pose a threat to humanity.

Before he had to break up the fight between the two women, Wanda stormed off leaving Anne Marie behind with a smirk on her face.

“I know you’re upset about the Professor, Rogue,” he started softly. “But if we’re all to work together, you need to find a way to figure things out with Wanda.”  
As she scowled, he added: “I’m not saying you have to like her, but can you please try not to start something every time you find yourselves in the same room? If you don’t want to do it for her, can you do it for me?”

Rogue crossed her arms across her chest.

“Fine. Ah’ll still be watching her every step of the way, but ah’ll try to keep things civil around here.”

“That’s all I’m asking for,” he said smiling.

“Nice work, bub,” Alex jumped a little as he had not noticed the short man leaning against the kitchen sink watching them before.

“Thanks, Logan.”

“Whatever,” Wolverine grunted as he picked up a large envelope from the table and passed it to the Unity squad leader. “This got dropped off for ya earlier.”

Alex reached out his hand and took the thick package from the other mutant. His breath hitched as he noticed his name written on it in the familiar tiny script.

“Ya going to read it?” the Canadian questioned.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I’m not sure there’s anything more that needs to be said between the two of us.”

“See, that’s the difference between us. I know I’m done with Slim for once and all.”

Neither of them pursued the conversation any further as the other residents started spilling in and they held a meeting on the press conference that they were planning to publicly announce the existence of their squad.

That night sleep escaped Alex as he kept turning and tossing in his bed, his mind unable to leave the envelope he had stuffed into a desk drawer earlier. He gave up at around three o’clock in the morning and got dressed. Helping himself to a cup of coffee, he sat down at the kitchen table and started reading.

After going through the whole fifty pages of events he had mostly known about or at least inferred, he struggled through the gruesome details that lay forgotten in the depths of times long gone. He resisted the urge to throw or destroy things and instead buried his head in his hands. As he was about to return the contents back into the envelope, he found one small note inside.

“If you ever cared about your brother, talk to Matt Murdoch,” the message was unsigned, but he knew who had scribbled it anyway.  


*****

Elsewhere in his apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, the lawyer was pouring over a file of his own. A thicker, more detailed recollection of events that spanned far beyond the timescale of the one that Alex had studied. Last night he had to get through a series of grueling and thorough examinations that Bruce Banner and Tony Stark had insisted on subjecting him to. Of course, none of them had shown anything beyond the fact that Matt’s memories had been psychically altered earlier in the day. He had spent the night in a spare bedroom of the Avengers’ mansion and joined the team for breakfast which had found them brainstorming about what had brought Frost, Magik and Magneto to turn up at his office. After hitting a dead-end, he asked for a ride to his office so that he could pick up some work before heading home.

Foggy had messaged him in the morning to see how he was feeling and to inform him that he was already trying to get someone hired to repair the damage to their office. Only to find out that a company had already been hired and paid for by a shell company in the Caribbeans that his friend writing for the business column of a local paper had managed to trace all the way to Frost International.

Once in the office, Matt just grabbed the files on his desk, including a thick folder that he couldn’t remember placing there before. He opened it to check if it wasn’t just one of Foggy’s that accidentally ended up among his stuff, but as far as he could tell the whole dossier seemed to be written in Braille. Scanning over the first few pages with his fingers, he raised his eyebrows as the reason behind the mutants assault on his office dawned on him.

“Interesting,” he muttered.

On pure instinct, he decided not to share this fact with anyone before he had the chance to explore the contents thoroughly. If the Avengers got a wind of it, he was sure that they would confiscate it from him in order to have it translated into a copy in regular script.

No matter Emma Frost’s motivations, it required a certain level of naive trust to turn the kind of personal information that the file seemed to contain into the hands of a perceived enemy. Matt knew to appreciate bravery, so he figured that he owed it to the mutants to at least sacrifice a day to studying the materials properly before forming an opinion of his own.

After hours upon hours of reading and verifying at least the facts that could be publicly verified, he conceded that a decent lawyer might be able to build a good case in Cyclops’ defense. At the same time, he still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of that particular lawyer being himself. The materials had gone to great depths in portraying the struggles that the mutant populace had faced over the past few decades and Scott Summers’ role in them and also provided detailed information on the Phoenix force that had been researched with much more care than Wolverine’s explanations, which had been no doubt tarnished by bad memories. On the other hand, he had struggled to put together a picture of the man himself beyond what he already knew based on the scarce details shared in the file. To his frustration this part of the dossier pulled together seemed to be redacted, most probably on purpose.

*****

Just as Matt wondered how in hell he could contact a bunch of fugitive mutants in order to ask them for the yet undisclosed information, his cell phone went off announcing an unknown number.

“Matt Murdoch speaking, who’s this? You realize it’s 5a.m., right?”

“Ugh, sorry,” the voice on the other side stammered. “Look, I can call you later. I just didn’t realize how early it was.”

As the man was about to drop off the call, Matt stopped him: “Wait! Could you at least tell me your name?”

“It’s Alex. Alex Summers.”

Matt’s heart started beating a little faster as he asked: “Are you by any chance calling me because of your brother?”

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“The more pressing question is who told you to contact me?” the lawyer questioned as an idea formed in his head. “Did you perhaps run into Emma Frost and her two pals recently?”

“Damn it,” the mutant cursed. “I knew it was her. We’ve not met personally recently, but when you see her next time, please tell her that I don’t appreciate being played by her.”

Matt dreaded that the conversation was about to end prematurely, due to him approaching the subject from the wrong angle. What was it that he had overheard during breakfast at the Avengers Tower the day before? Steve was talking about some kind of unity squad formed by mutant and other superheroes alike. He had completely forgotten that Captain America had mentioned Cyclops’ little brother being the team’s leader. So the man was obviously trying to show to the world that he was nothing like Scott Summers, no wonder he didn’t like the psychic woman who had seemingly influenced the mutant leader’s policies over the past few years.

“Alex, please give me a chance to explain. I’m hardly Frost’s biggest fan at the moment myself. I don’t really enjoy people who break into my office and then erase my memories.”

“Frost broke into your office?”

“Together with Magneto and the Rasputin girl. But that’s not the point. The thing is that I now know the reason why they did it. Your brother…,” Matt trailed off as Alex interrupted him.

“Which one? The psycho murderer or the psycho mass-murderer who’s dead?” the mutant asked sarcastically.

Matt shook his head in confusion, this was proving far more frustrating than talking to Emma Frost. At least she had the courtesy to delete any senseless argument they might have led the other day in his office from his brain forever.  
“Look, Alex,” he tried again with a patient tone. “I feel like we started this conversation on the wrong foot. Let’s rewind a little, let’s forget about Emma Frost’s probably diabolical intentions for a bit. There must have been a reason why you decided to call me about Scott. What was it?”

The mutant took in a sharp breath before continuing: “A file got dropped off for me at the Unity Squad’s headquarters yesterday. It’s about Scott and his childhood and the time when the Professor first took him in.”

“Right. And did whatever you found make you doubt that he’s guilty?”

“No,” the mutant sounded astonished. “It just made me understand why he’d be fucked up enough to kill him and made me wonder why he didn’t blow up earlier. It’s usually the tortured who become the torturer and all that stuff, you know?”

“Alex, what if I told you there might be a solid chance that your brother is more or less innocent?”

The other end of the line was silent except for the man’s harsh breathing.

“I’d ask if you were sure that your brain is not being steered into that direction by Emma Frost.” he said finally.

“Well, alright. Except both Tony Stark and Bruce Banner made pretty sure it wasn’t the other day. Plus I’ve got some strong evidence, some of which admittedly still needs to be double-checked, that points towards Cyclops' innocence. But I’m missing one part of the story which I think is the file you got.”

“And you want me to give it over to you? To be honest, I don’t like the idea much. Whatever Scott might have done, I still don’t think he deserves for this stuff to get out. It’s pretty grim,” the younger Summers’ brother said after some consideration, revealing some positive emotion he still held for his brother for the first time during the call.

“I’ll make you a proposal,” Matt offered. “The way I understand the clues at the end of my file, we should be able to find a copy of each of the files in a place only someone really close to Scott would know where to find. One of mine in regular script for you and one of yours in Braille for me. If it’s not there, I’ll never bother you with this again, alright?”

“Okay,” the mutant agreed reluctantly.

“Do you know any place where we ought to look?”

“Now that you mention it, I just might. There’s a post box that Scott set-up for our dad. In case he comes to Earth one day and it turns out that we’re both gone. Except dad died first.”

***** 

Matt let the guard lead him to his seat opposite Scott Summers. He mumbled a silent thank you as he concentrated all his senses on his potential new client. He detected only the smallest touch of the Phoenix's smell on him as it seemed to be evaporating from him just as it had been from Emma Frost and Ilyana Rasputin when he had met them a couple of days ago. He also picked up some sweat, which came as no surprise, the image of Cyclops exercising even in his cell seemed to correlate with what he had learned of the man thus far. Underneath it all he also picked up Wolverine's scent and he wondered for a brief moment if Logan was the reason why he also seemed to be noting a shadow of the odor of blood. The lawyer's examination was interrupted when he felt the pressure under his palms that he had previously put on the table. The other man seemed to be pushing his hand-cuffed hands into the wooden surface, making his anger evident.

"I know it might seem hard to believe, but I'm not your enemy here," Matt offered.

A ghost of a laugh escaped Scott Summers.

"Right," he said in a croaked voice. "It would be easier to believe from a guy that wasn't a part of a team that invaded my island with the sole purpose of abducting my grand-daughter."

Matt sighed, trying not to let the stubbornness that seemed to be prevalent among the Summers' brothers drive him crazy.

"Officer," he addressed the guard. "Could you please step out for a moment? And I'll need you to undo his cuffs for a bit too."

"Negative on both counts, sir," the young man in uniform said in a mild voice. "The prisoner is not to be left alone without a guard or to be uncuffed outside his cell. He's been deemed dangerous. Also, he's being hostile to you."

Matt rolled his eyes behind his glasses.

"He also happens to be wearing a Stark Mark III power inhibitor which can be used to put him to sleep at a push of a button, right? All you have to do is walk outside and watch from behind the glass and play with the joystick if he steps out of line. And I'm entitled to talk with my client in private with these precautions in place," the lawyer argued.

The guard seemed to consider his word for a moment before walking over to Cyclops and releasing his hands. He then walked out of the room, stopping for a short moment before the door to look around and probably shoot the mutant a warning look.

"I didn't realize I'd have to be so forthright about it, but you asked for it," Matt started as he took out a couple of files from his bag and put them in front of his client. "Have a look. And by the way, Emma Frost sends her regards."

"Oh," Scott stammered as the realization dawned of him. "I'm sorry I didn't realize she sent you."

Matt protested: "Uh, she didn't."

Cyclops smirked audibly.

"Yeah, I guess she did," Daredevil had to admit.

After that the room was filled with rustling of papers as the former mutant leader dived into looking over the files that Matt provided. He showed no reaction with the exception of a few remarks that expanded on the details, but once he grabbed the thinner file, his breath hitched and his heart started hammering in his chest.

"Right," he said as he pushed the file back towards Matt, trying to hide the tremor in his voice. "I don't need to see this one."

The lawyer hesitated to take it back.

"I've got enough of the memories," the mutant revealed. "I try not to think of them, but I can get enough to fill in the gaps here."

Matt could hear him turning the pages of the other file, unsuccessfully trying to hide his hitched breathing and too loud heartbeat behind the rustling of the pages.

"Okay, so what strategy do you propose?" the lawyer questioned his client in an attempt to steer him away from the demons of his past.

The chair screeched as Scott pushed it a little away from the table.

"I thought you were the lawyer," he told Matt.

"And I thought you were the master strategist," the lawyer argued smiling.

*****

Wolverine ignored the greetings from the teens that were huddled around the TV set in the living area of the Jean Grey school, and proceeded into the kitchen where Kitty was reading over some essays.

“Why the hell do ya let them watch that stuff?” he questioned gruffly.

“Hello to you too, Logan,” the woman answered, looking up from the stack of student papers. “Because the more we forbid them to watch it or the more we tell them Scott was wrong without explaining or letting them examine what’s happening by themselves, the more vulnerable they will be to going down the same road, don’t you think?”

“It's not like the prof had any of us watch Magneto’s ramblings on TV , did he?” he asked.

“No, he did not.”

“Right. And you think if he had, Slim wouldn’t follow in his footsteps?”

She pursed her lips.

“I genuinely don’t know. But what I think is that Scott got tangled in a web of lies that pushed away all the people that might have reined him in when he went off the rails. That's why I've got no intention of hiding this from the kids.”

“Whatever,” Logan grunted. “I guess it doesn’t matter. He’s gonna plead guilty anyway.”

“How can you be so sure?”

The man ignored her inquisitive look. 

“Dunno. Just a feeling I got when I talked to him back when I went to see him,” he said at last, deciding to spare Kitty from the grittier details of that particular meeting.

Their conversation was disrupted by a series of yells from the teens in the next room, ranging from excited to enraged. The two adults followed the noise, wanting to make sure that they’re close should a fight break out between the teens. Wolverine reluctantly looked at the screen to see what had caused such a reaction from the kids. He fought the urge to pop his claws when he spotted what the commotion among the school populace had been about on replay. Cyclops, in his orange prison jumpsuit raising his handcuffed hands to form the X-shape, just as he had in the photo from his arrest that had flown around the world, before the two guards forced him into his seat and removed the handcuffs. Summers shook hands with his lawyer and this was the moment when Logan’s eyes almost popped out of his sockets when he realized who the blind man behind the dark glasses was.

“What the heck is Daredevil doing defending Cyclops?” one of the children voiced the question that was running through Logan’s head.

“I don’t like this,” the man told Kitty. “Frost wiped his mind less than a week ago and now he’s Slim’s lawyer all of a sudden?”

His colleague just shrugged her shoulders.

“You said it yourself, both Stark and Banner were sure his brain was clear from any psychic influence besides from the small memory wipe. And Reed Richards agreed with them. So whatever he’s doing, he’s doing it of his own volition.”

“Still don’t like it,” the feral mutant muttered.

“How do you plead?” the judge finally asked.

The temperature in the room dropped by a few degrees and everyone went uncharacteristically quiet in anticipation. The camera switched to a close-up of Cyclops’ face as he seemed to consider the question, his features schooled into a neutral expression, his true feelings only given away by the sincere look in his hazel eyes.

Matt Murdoch put a hand on Scott’s shoulder as the cameras captured the mutant looking right at the judge. Wolverine studied his appearance, the man did not look much worse for wear than he had back when he last saw him. Well, with the exception of the bruise mark on one of his prominent cheekbones. But even that one seemed to be several days old and in the process of healing. He had probably acquired it before the two of them had met last, only it wasn't visible through the cosmic helmet unlike now with the inducer around his neck that seemed to turn off his powers.

“Not guilty,” Summers said, barely about a whisper, a soft smile forming on his lips.

“What the actual fuck?” Logan cursed aloud and turned to walk out of the house before Wolverine could take his anger out on Quentin Quire who was grinning from ear to ear, looming behind the crowd of the other students in his “Cyclops Was Right” T-shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the cards have been dealt and now it's just time for the final chapter which will be the trial itself. I've already got most of it written and it will be longer than chapter I and II combined and then some, so stay tuned in.


	3. Chapter 3

Unlike the pre-trial which had been held without the presence of the public with the exception of the camera crew covering the proceedings, the main spectacle attracted the attention of regular citizens and heroes alike. If an enemy had chosen this day to attack the Avengers and X-men, they would find many of them concentrated in one place. Factions of anti-mutant as well as pro-Cyclops protesters had gathered outside the court building. With the other heroes otherwise preoccupied the role of keeping the two opposing groups from killing each other fell to the New Defenders, supported by a group of SHIELD agents and policemen.

The courtroom was starting to fill in, all twelve members of the jury had taken their place. Matt Murdoch’s request that at least half of the organ be composed of mutants had been denied and so the group turned out to be predominately human with a single mutant and two inhumans, half female, half male. At least the background check that the lawyer ran on them, didn’t reveal any of them to have any loyalties beyond their US citizenship, so he was hoping that they would have a chance for a fair trial at least on that count.

But Matt could also feel the three rows of empty seats right behind him, while the murmur of the people in the back revealed that those places were mostly occupied by journalists and photographers or sensation seeking citizens. On the other hand the side behind the prosecution table boasted not only the Avengers and Wolverine’s team of teachers from the Jean Grey School, but also some of the once inhabitants of Utopia who had lost their home in the fight against the Avengers.

The uproar increased in volume as two guards brought in the accused Scott Summers. Most people had been used to seeing him in superhero tights, but the man that was led to the courtroom was dressed in a smart black suit under which his stature resonated that of the teenage boy who had once earned himself the nickname ‘ _Slim_ ’. Free of his ruby quartz glasses or his visor, his hazel eyes fully visible, he appeared almost indistinguishable from the powerless humans in the room if it weren’t for the power inhibitor around his neck. 

It seemed as if the once mutant leader didn’t pay much or any attention to the superheroes or mutants that had gathered to watch his trial, instead turning his head to study the faces of the men and women who composed the jury for his trial. In reality he created a mental image of where everyone was in the room the moment he had walked in as if he were entering a battlefield. Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff but no sight of Bruce Banner, Thor or Peter Parker. In the next row Logan who seemed to have rekindled his relationship with the Avengers after he had tried to kill Hope behind their backs, sharing the row with Hank, Kitty, Rogue, Psylocke and Alex. Warren with Bobby a bit more to the back along with the rest of the adults from the school and Utopia with the exception of the fugitives. It hardly came as a surprise that Ororo was a no show either, from the little information that Matt had brought him during his captivity she had decided to stay out of any major public events in the wake of the destruction that Namor had brought on Wakanda. And in the very back, away from the rest of the superhero community, Reed Richards ignoring everyone around him, playing around with some formulas on his tablet.

Scott let the guards take off his cuffs before slumping into the chair next to Matt.

“You alright?” he asked turning to the blind man.

“I feel like I should be the one asking you that,” Daredevil shot back.

“Well, it’s not like you’re not about to make some new enemies today yourself. Associating oneself with mutants tends to have that effect after all.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Matt said exhaling loudly. “But just maybe you might also make some new friends today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you see any Defenders in the room?”

As Scott was about to open his mouth to respond, the judge walked in and everyone stood up. The elderly stout man stalked over to his seat.

“Sit down,” his voice boomed over the room. “And I’ll appreciate if you all keep quiet.”

“At this time the court calls Government of United States versus Scott Summers. Will the parties please state their appearances for the record?”

On the prosecution side a middle aged bald man stood up and said: “Good morning, Judge. Government of United States appears by United States Attorney Will DeBois, appearing as special procurator in this case. Appearing with me is Tim Marshall, Assistant Attorney General from National Security Division of the Department of Justice.”

Despite his unassuming appearance and restrained manner, Scott knew that DeBois had once played a crucial role in writing several chapters of the Superhero Registration Act and in his youth he had also drafted a few pieces of anti-mutant legislation.

“Good morning. Scott Summers appears in person, represented by Matthew Murdoch.”

The judge nodded and turned to the members of the jury to explain the two charges, count one second-degree murder and count two public endangerment and proceeded to explain the further instruction of the court they ought to take into account when coming to a decision.

“Mr. DeBois, please proceed with your opening statement,” the judge turned to the prosecution once he was satisfied with the explanations he had provided to the twelve men and women.

The man stood up from his chair in a hurry, his eyes glued on the men and women of the jury, making sure that they understand that he’s addressing them and not the rest of the room, as far as he was concerned they were the only ones who mattered: “You have had the opportunity to acquaint yourselves with the facts of this case as well as the evidence that has been gathered and now the Judge has also armed you with the instructions of the court. Your responsibility now is to use that knowledge to come to the right verdict. Unlike any other jury you have one extra advantage – you and your families were also the victims of one of the crimes that will be judged today. For Scott Summers took it upon himself to restore his race no matter the cost to our planet and its inhabitants. 

There was only one scenario in his mind, he would bring the X-gene back into our population even if the attempt to do so would mean the destruction of us all. When the Phoenix Force was racing through the universe and destroying everything in its wake, this man refused to cooperate with the Avengers to protect our world, instead his stance brought upon a fight between the very people who were our only defense against the threat. But even that was not enough, once he came to possess a part of that power himself, he and his four fellows turned themselves into would be gods and rebuilt the world in their own image. An apparent utopia that incarcerated the people who dared to speak against it and in case of the man known as Namor even attacked and destroyed the nation of Wakanda. And when the very man who had once taken in Scott Summers, an orphan with no future, into his home and gave him a chance at life, tried to show Mr. Summers the errors of his ways, he lashed out at him and murdered him in cold blood. The person who loved him like his own son. This is the story that we, as the prosecution in this case, have been able to put together and we intend to further prove this in the course of today's trial.”

“Thank you, Mr. DeBois. Mr. Murdoch, your turn.”

Matt stood up holding his cane in both of his hands as he turned his head towards the jury.

“To properly explain this case as well as my client’s motivations for acting the way he did is to tell you the tragic tale of the mutant race and all the things they have had to endure whether as citizens of this very country or whenever they found an independent home of their own.

I could start by talking about how my client has committed most of the actions he stands accused of under the influence of a cosmic force that only a select few on this planet have the inner power to contain for a limited time. But my client has pleaded me not to, instead he wishes to use this time to speak on behalf of those of his fellow men who can no longer speak for themselves. We are of course talking about the millions of mutants and their plight which has cost them their lives. The only crime most of them ever committed was that they were born with different genes. Before the defense interrupts and ask how this relates to today’s trial, all I have to say is this – what we intend to do over the course of this trial is to paint a vivid picture of everything that would eventually lead Scott Summers to become the man he is today and explain why he felt he had no other choice but to take the decisions that have led us all here.

Scott Summers had once walked among the bodies of the fallen Morlocks in the sewers underneath New York City. The Government of United States had supported the kind of atmosphere that forced these people whose only crime was that their appearance was vastly different to the majority of the population to hide and live among waste. Even at their biggest hour of need the security forces failed to protect these US citizens and let them be slaughtered and never managed to prosecute their attackers.

Sixteen and a half million. That’s how many mutant men, women and children perished within hours on Genosha as international forces created a cordon around the island and fired upon survivors.

 _No more mutants._ Just three little words that Wanda Maximoff uttered and which resulted in the mass murder of hundreds of mutants who fell to their deaths as a result of losing their powers on M-day when those fatal words were spoken. And millions of lives changed forever, many driven to suicide unable to cope with this turn of events.

Just the last 198 mutants left. One would hope that the atrocities would stop there. But even with the protection of the O.N.E. organization Scott Summers once again found himself walking among the bodies of his fellow mutants, this time forty-two children who had lost their powers. Their bodies blown to bits and pieces by the followers of Reverend William Stryker. Try putting yourselves in the shoes of the man who was responsible for the safety of those young students and to whom the outstanding mutant population of the world looked up in the hopes that he would be the one to lead them from the black hole that they had sunk into. Not only hated and feared, but now also decimated.

And when there was a first light of hope in the form of a mutant birth, the child became the most endangered person on this planet. She had to be raised by Mr. Summers’ son in the far future, so that she would have a chance to survive into her teenage years. Given the failures of any and all authorities to protect mutants in the past, does it come as such a surprise that Mr. Summers didn’t react kindly when the Avengers invaded his island without an invite and demanded that this girl – his grand-daughter who had been in his care at that time due to the tragic death of his son – be taken into their protective custody?  


After all he had seen it many times before, how mutants had been treated in the hands of authorities, not only before the Phoenix Force neared Earth but also now that it has restored the X-gene in the population. Despite the knowledge of anti-mutant sentiments, the government continues to place mutants into general population in jails. Scott Summers watched as a man called Jake who had only come to discover his powers recently being was murdered by his fellow cell mates just a week ago. My client only escaped this fate himself because I insisted that he be moved to solitary confinement for his own protection.  


As for the Phoenix Force, when this extra-terrestrial power started approaching the Earth there was one man on this planet who predicted its intention for coming to us. This man was Scott Summers who had more knowledge and personal experience with the Force than any other person on our world. Yet did the Avengers even attempt to discuss this with him? No, instead they turned to someone whose judgement was clouded by his own negative experience with the Force only to end up dealing with the situation just as Mr. Summers intended from the very start. They only did so after one of their own accidentally caused the Phoenix Force to be thrust upon the Phoenix Five.

As for the charge of second degree murder, once again there’s more information you need to be informed about before you can comprehend my client’s motivations and emotional state in that fateful moment. You have already seen some of the evidence that hints at how the relationship between Professor Charles Xavier and Scott Summers started and today we will provide further proof that will show you that not only has the Government of the United States failed to protect mutants as a whole, but they also failed to shield Scott Summers himself when he was a boy in their care thanks to the materials that we were able to gather thanks to Alex Summers and which we submitted as additional evidence today,” Matt continued as several pairs of eyes turned to stare at Havok.

None of them were more confused than Rogue’s, but it was Steve Rogers who spoke first.

“What does this mean, Alex?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” the other man apologized. “But it’s my brother. He’s the one who always gave me a shot and I figure I owe him this one. For what it’s worth I really think that this unity squad of yours is a wonderful idea, Steve. But my true loyalty lies elsewhere,” he tried to explain both to Captain America and Anne-Marie at the same time, offering one last smile before turning to join his brother.

“Wait,” Rogue called after him. “You’re not going anywhere without me, sugah.”

“I appreciate it, Rogue, but you really don’t have to. I know how you feel about the Professor’s death.”

“Ah’m not exactly Scott’s number one fan at the moment, but if the choice is between him and her,” she growled, sparing a brief glance towards the Scarlet Witch: “Ah think ah’ll go for the lower body count.”

Daredevil tried to continue his speech as the duo walked over to the other side of the room and sat down on the bench behind Scott and his lawyer: “Now that it’s settled and the two of you have publicly announced the end of your brief stint with the Avengers Unity Squad, please let me continue. We will show proof of the government’s negligence of duty of care when it came to a ten year old boy who after the presumed death of his parents was a warden of state and whom the state failed to protect from four years of life in an orphanage hell designed by a madman obsessed with the boy’s genes. As well as failure to protect him from being put into the foster care of an abusive criminal who was forcing him to use his mutant abilities to aid him in his crimes. And finally failing to protect the boy once again at fifteen years old when he wound up in the care of a man whom he came to view as his surrogate father, but who primarily wanted him for his strategic ability and who turned him into a child soldier in his own crusade. An emotionally abusive man with a tendency to misuse his telepathic powers to play with people’s memories. If the government of this country sees it fit to judge Scott Summers for his actions as the leader of his dying species, it’s only fair for them to face up the many ways they failed him and his people too.” 

“Thank you both. The court will adjourn now for a short fifteen minute break. We will continue with witness statements once we return.”

*****

Many of the people used the short break to catch a bit of air after the comprehensive speeches, but Havok and Rogue chose to remain in the room. Scott turned his head towards them as he said hoarsely: “Thanks, both of you.”  
Alex smiled: “It’s the least I could do for the guy who will always catch me when I fall.”  
Rogue just shrugged her shoulders as she muttered under her breath: “Ah’m not exactly doing this for you.”  
“I appreciate it anyway, Marie,” Scott told her, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes, instead staring intently on her shoes.  
The younger of the two brothers turned his attention to the lawyer.  
“So who are the witnesses besides Cap?”  
“Stark and McCoy for the prosecution. Reed Richards for us.”  
“Is that all for our side? And why Richards?”  
“Well, we were hoping to get Rachel to talk about the Phoenix but she’s off world,” Scott explained and Alex noted a deep sadness behind the note of disappointment in his voice.  
“Still. Why Reed though?”  
“Because he’s the most likely to explain the whole thing in such a way that people think they understand even though they don’t and still come across as trustworthy on this kind of topic,” Matt explained.  
“Weirdly that actually makes sense somehow. Why not any other witnesses though? I know the card we’re playing, but still,” Alex trailed off.  
“You’re right,” Matt agreed, shooting him a smile. “I might have one or three surprises up my sleeve yet.”  
Before they could continue their discussion, the judge returned and asked the prosecution to call the first witness. As DeBois invited Steve Rogers to take the stand, Rogue rolled her eyes at Alex.  
“Well, ah’ll be damned. As if any person on the jury will believe any mutie freak over Captain Greatness and whatever he has to say.”  
“Nah, I think it’s good for us to have him first, it means that Stark can still ruin it for them once it’s his turn.”

“Captain Rogers, you led a team of Avengers who were tasked with the challenge of protecting our world from the threat that the Phoenix force posed, correct?”  
“Yes, sir.”  
“Could you please describe what happened when you approached Mr. Summers about releasing Hope Summers, who had been identified as potential reason for this extraordinary power to target Earth?”  
“I asked him to hand her over peacefully, promising that we would take her into protective custody and guarantee her safety. However Scott refused to comply and decided to stop us, even though Hope herself had a different opinion on the whole matter. A fight broke out between the X-Men and the Avengers on Utopia.”  
As Steve was about to continue, the prosecutor stopped him.  
“Thank you, that will be enough on that count. Captain Rogers, you were also present when Professor Xavier died, correct?”  
“Yes.”  
“Could you please describe how it happened?”  
“Cyclops…Mr.Summers had just taken the last bit of the Force from Miss Frost and was in possession of all the fragments. I asked Charles to come with me and try to talk Scott down in order to let go of the power. But he wouldn’t have any of it. And when Xavier asked him to stop, he just lashed out at him and killed him.”  
“Captain Rogers, so you can confirm that you have seen Mr. Summers kill Professor Charles Xavier right in front of you?”  
Steve looked up and turned his eyes on Cyclop’s pensive face for a second before saying: “Yes, I can.”  
“Thank you, Captain Rogers. I don’t have any more questions for you.”  
“Mr. Murdoch, would you like to pose any questions to the witness?”  
“Yes, your honor. Just one.”  
Matt stalked over to the stand, making sure to use his cane, even raising it to apparently gauge the distance between himself and the Captain.  
“Captain Rogers, imagine this scenario – one day Alpha Flight turns up at the Avengers Tower asking you to release one of your people into their protective custody.”  
“Objection, your honor,” DeBois protested. “Irrelevant.”  
“Mr. Murdoch, is there a point to this line of questioning?”  
“Of course. I would like Captain Rogers to tell us how he would handle a situation where a superhero team from a different country enters his territory and asks him to hand over one of the people under his leadership to them. Would you let the team take this person with them?”  
“Objection denied. Captain Rogers, please answer the question.”  
“Probably not.”

“Doctor McCoy how long have you known Mr. Summers?”  
“For a really long time. We were the first pupils of Professor Xavier’s school together back when I was eighteen and Scott sixteen.”  
“During this time, would you say that you and Mr. Summers were pretty good friends and knew each other well?”  
“Yes, you could say that. There were only the five of us and partaking in our studies and activities as the X-men did not lend much time to making acquaintances elsewhere.”  
“So you have known Mr. Summers since your teenage years, you have studied together and fought together as X-men for decades. Yet you were among the first people to become disgruntled with Mr. Summers’ leadership and left Utopia pretty early into its existence. Could you please explain why?”  
“I chose to leave because I no longer recognized the person that Scott had become and I strongly disagreed with some of the decisions he took and especially the lengths to which he was willing to go. We once were youths who shared the same dream together. The dream of Professor Xavier that mutantkind and humanity would coexist peacefully one day. Some of the things Scott did on Utopia, it was like he was spitting on that dream.”  
“If I asked you back then whether Mr. Summers was capable of murder, what would you say?”  
“I genuinely don’t know.”

Afterwards DeBois had no more questions for the blue furred mutant and it was Daredevil’s turn to proceed with the questioning.

“Once again, just one question, Doctor McCoy. As you said, you were one of the first pupils at Xavier’s school. During this time or at any other point after that, has Mr. Summers ever discussed with you what happened during the year that he had lived with the Professor as his only charge?”  
“No, not really. Albeit I’m uncertain how this relates to this trial.”  
“Thank you, that’s all from my side. We intend to provide the answers to your question today.”

“Mr. Stark, could you please explain what exactly the Phoenix Force is?”  
“Well, in laymen’s terms it’s an immortal, indestructible, and mutable manifestation of the prime universal force of life. It possesses the power to cut and regrow any part of the universe, as well as destroy it entirely which makes it one of the most feared beings in the entire universe.”  
“Did we know why the Force was heading for Earth?”  
“We assumed it intended to find its next host here. Just as it had with Jean Grey in the past. Hope Summers, the supposed mutant messiah seemed to be the most likely target.”  
“No more questions from the prosecution.”  
“Mr. Murdoch?” the judge turned to the defense.  
“Yes, your honor. Mr. Stark did you take it upon yourself to create a weapon to destroy this Force which you have named as one of the most feared in the universe? Once and for all?”  
“Yeah, I did.”  
“And did that attempt end up misfiring and landing the fragments of the power into Mr. Summers and his colleagues?”  
“Uhh, yeah.”  
“Thank you, that will be enough,” Matt stated, but his words didn’t manage to stop Iron Man from uttering the rest of his sentence.  
“Though in my defense, the lot of them shouldn’t have been nearby in the first place.”

“Mr. Murdoch, you have called the next witness, please proceed with questioning.

“Mr. Richards, you and your family were not fighting with the Avengers nor the X-men when the Phoenix Force came to Earth. Could you please describe your view of the events?”  
“Of course. Mr. Stark has already explained the basics of how this entity works. But so far he has only shared the scaremongering parts with you. He has omitted to say that the power can be used for good as has been shown by the Phoenix Five initially. They had all this might that they could have used to destroy and yet their first choice was to create a paradise on Earth not just for their own people, but for everyone. No hunger, no wars, no disease.”  
Tony Stark coughed loudly causing many of the heads in the room to turn to him. “Oh, I’m sorry. But you don’t actually believe this shit you’re spouting, Reed, do you?”  
“I do, Tony. And I warned you, remember? I outright told you to stop poking them with a stick as you were the only ones who were getting hurt. And what did you go and do? You kept poking at them and putting them against each other until it all ended in disaster. You wanna put Summers here into a cell for Xavier’s death? Go ahead, but don’t forget to book one for your own ass.”  
“That’s just absurd, Richards. They would have blown up eventually without us, we just did what we had to do…”

“Ah’m not exactly disagreeing with most of the things Stark’s sayin’, but shouldn’t you share your side of the story here, Scott?” Rogue whispered.  
Cyclops put down the notebook he was apparently writing notes on in all the time and took a slow breath.  
“No,” he said resolutely.  
“Well, that’s a very comprehensive answer,” Alex commented.  
“Was I right? Were they? The answer to that question means nothing now. What matters is out there,” the mutant leader started explaining.  
“You’re not exactly making much sense,” Rogue said shaking her head.  
Scott smirked.  
“Believe it or not, out of all the people out there it was Logan who reminded me of what still needs to be done. Just a few days ago, I was ready to embrace death, my mission finished and the best I could offer my people was to become their martyr.”  
“Is this where you go for the insanity plea? Because ah can totally see it,” Rogue questioned.  
“No. There are new mutants popping up all over the world this very minute. And they’re appearing because of the plan I devised thinking that it was the war to end all wars. Except it wasn’t, was it? It was just yet another battle of many to come. Mutantkind is getting reborn, but those people are coming into bloom in a world that still hates us. So the point I’m trying to make is that we will never make everyone in this room agree on the actions and decisions that some of us took. Let the Avengers and Reed argue about the morality of it all, but what matters is what the jury thinks. So I’m going to let the guy who knows what story to spin in order to convince them fight this battle for me to make sure that I have a chance of getting out there to assume my responsibility to help the new mutants out there.”  
“Okay, Mr. God complex, ah suppose that makes sense,” Anne-Marie agreed reluctantly.  
“Well, I can see one flaw in the plan. What if Matt doesn’t manage to convince them?” Alex pointed out.  
Instead of answering, Scott pulled out the first page of his notebook and passed it to his brothers. The other mutants huddled over what they presumed to be their friends’ notes on the court proceedings until now. Instead they got to read through a short conversation between Cyclops and another person.  
“Break you out?” in shaky letters appeared on the top of the page.  
“Not just yet. Let’s leave that for plan two,” Summers suggested.  
“Alright.”  
“Stay on standby.”  
As Alex was about to return the page to his sibling, all of a sudden small dots of matter appeared in the air over the page and started forming into words making everyone aware about who was on the other side of this particular talk.  
“As you wish. We’re ready and waiting for your call.”

*****

After the witness statements, the court went over the evidence that had been gathered over the period of the investigation. As the details of it were known to both the judge, prosecution, defense and jury alike, they didn't spend too much time examining the documents and photos provided. Thus it was shortly after the court had re-adjourned after an hour long lunch break that the judge turned to Matt Murdoch and asked him to provide his reasoning for including the extra evidence he had submitted in the morning.

Daredevil started to explain: “The prosecution would like you to believe that this case is a straight forward matter - a charitable old man rescues an orphan boy whom he grows to love as if he were his own son and names him his successors. But as the boy grows obsessed with the survival of his race beyond reason, he leads his people to war with the mightiest heroes of our times and embraces a cosmic force he can’t control, until he finally succumbs to it and ends up killing the man who made him. Certainly the testimonies brought forward by the prosecution witnesses support this conclusion. Except, there’s one vital point that these gentlemen have failed to understand – they assume that they know the real Scott Summers and his whole life story. Why wouldn’t they? After all, they have known him since he was a teenager in Professor Xavier’s care. What they don’t realize is that since the very beginning, the professor has singled out Scott Summers as the leader. One of the reasons he chose to do this was that he knew the boy would serve in this role no matter what, even if it meant that he would have to forsake tighter bonds of fellowship with most of his comrades. As a result only very few people can claim that they truly know Scott Summers. Most of those individuals are deceased now and were we to invite those who remain to testify it would likely be frowned upon. Fortunately for us, we have managed to obtain physical proof for the story we will share. We would like to submit a new piece of evidence – a series of letters exchanged between Professor Charles Xavier and Doctor Moira MacTaggert.”

_“Dear Moira,  
I hope you are doing well.  
I think I have discovered the first piece of the puzzle that I’m trying to build. The first boy for my school for exceptionally gifted students. I have heard reports about an incident concerning a mutant child in a State Home for Foundlings in Omaha, Nebraska. I prepared to travel there as soon as my other responsibilities allowed me to. Unfortunately I arrived too late. By the time I came, the orphanage was devoid of any children or adults, human and mutant alike. But upon examining the psychic residue, I knew that he had definitely been here before. After searching the property extensively, I found that this place was filled with rather sinister secrets. Underneath the building I discovered the remains of what once served as a laboratory and some discarded documents. From the little bits of those that I was able to pull together again, I learned that this institution served as little more than a veil for a thoroughly designed experiment for a lab rat. I think that by now you realize that the very boy I was looking for was the one who stood at the forefront of this scheme. I dare not think what the person behind this all intended to achieve, but I sincerely doubt their intentions were any good.  
At the same time, I’m ashamed to admit that I feel somewhat thankful to this person as the data they have left behind are something that I can use to speed up my plans by a few years. Based on the results put together here, if I find this boy I will have someone who fits the position of leader for the students I intend to take in perfectly.  
All I have to do now is to find him. I have picked up a psychic trace of his next steps, but it has grown somewhat cold almost as if his presence were shielded from me by some force or another.”  
_

_“Dear Charles,  
I hope you manage to find this boy quickly, I’m sure the poor thing has to be scared to be out there all alone with these new destructive powers.  
But my dear friend, I must urge you not to forget your humanity in the midst of all your plans. Based on what you have discovered, this child has not led the easiest life and when you find him he’s likely to be traumatized. Please don’t forget that he’s a human being, not the amalgamation of what you wish him to be based on the results of experiments and tests done by some madman.”  
_

_“My dearest Moira,  
These are happy days as I’ve finally found him and Scott is here with me today.  
I dare not speak of the horrors I’ve found him living in to you, but the person responsible has been dealt with. It was a hard first few days for the boy and I fear that I had no other choice but to make some adjustments to his memories if he were to recover. I know you’re going to disagree with this course of action, but what I found inside his brain…it has been thoroughly tampered with and I feel that had I left the memories of the nightmares that befell him in the last few months intact, the tiny threads that hold together his sanity would break.”  
_

_“Charles,  
you were right, I don’t agree with you. I can’t describe how angry I am with you right now on paper. You went out there and did exactly what I begged you not to do! I don’t care whether you did it so that you could have your perfect little soldier faster or because you genuinely believed that you were helping him, but I can assure you that this will come to bite your bottom one day. You can’t just erase months and years of trauma, it needs to be worked through, not forgotten. Based on what you described, this boy has been through hell and back. You pretend to be his savior, but the first thing you do is misuse his trust.”_

“These letters revealed only a sliver of the mosaic that is Scott Summers’ life story. The entire truth is described in this sealed folder. Fortunately for us my client has given his approval to discuss its contents in this courtroom,” Matt said as he handed over a copy over to each member to the jury and then to the judge and prosecutor.  
A silent murmur swept over the courtroom as the jurors skimmed over the contents quickly. The prosecutor turned the first few pages and his face turned into a grimace.  
“Well?” the judge turned to him.  
“We still maintain that the defense prove the relevance of this material to the topic of today's trial.”  
Matt smiled and mouth turned to the judge answered: “Your honor, I believe that we have just demonstrated that it’s been ingrained into my client from a very young age that he think like a soldier and general of his people. And that each and every decision he made over the last few years were motivated by this. With this we tend to prove that he also had to learn to survive in a world that hated him and that he merely worked to ensure the survival of his people.”  
“Objection denied.”

Matt approached Scott. Albeit he couldn’t see the white palor on the mutant’s face, he could practically hear the tension in his muscles which made him know about his rigid stance.  
“Cyclops…Scott, are you sure you want to do this?” he pried.  
The older Summers brother gulped, but in the end he said: “It’s okay, I think I need to do this. It’s the right move to play.”  
Matt frowned and asked: “Is this a decision you’re making as Cyclops, the leader of the X-men or as Scott Summers? Because I think this one belongs to Scott, not to Cyclops.”  
“Both,” the mutant client whispered quietly as he balled both of his hands into a fist to stop the shaking and added: “If there’s one thing I think I regret it’s keeping people at arms’ length.”

Logan sniffed the air and raised his eyebrows.  
“Something’s wrong, “ he whispered to Steve Rogers. “Slim’s heartbeat sounds like he’s a minute away from a heart attack and he reeks of fear more than a pig shortly before slaughter.”  
Tony Stark who was sat at the other side of Captain America shrugged his shoulders.  
“I don’t think many of us would feel much different if dozens of people were to hear about the finer sides of our upbringing.”  
“It’s more than that,” Wolverine growled.  
He was soon proven right as Betsy Braddock in the row behind him yelped and grabbed her head. The rest of the psychics in the room didn’t fare any better, the Cuckoos fought to retain consciousness.  
“Scott, dear,” Daredevil spoke in a voice that did not belong to him. “Remember when we talked about the box?”  


*****

_“There’s something more,” Emma said looking sharply at the black box. “Another box hidden in the shadows of the first one.”  
Scott narrowed his eyes as he breathed out: “You’re not supposed to see that.”  
“I thought this was about stopping with all the secrets, darling.”  
Cyclops stood in front of her with his imposing height and grabbed both her arms.  
“Is it really? Then why don’t we talk about the elephant in the room. Or should I say big fish? What? Do you think I haven’t noticed? Just because it’s psychic it doesn’t mean it doesn’t count. Remember how we started?” he spilled out with venom in his voice.  
“Let me go,” Emma protested trying to free herself of her boyfriend’s hold. “This isn’t you, Scott and it doesn’t suit you. If I get up to any shenanigans with Namor, it’s only because you’ve been distant. Maybe if you let me cut through that thick skin of yours, I’ll stop fooling around.”  
The leader of the X-men released his grip on her and cradled his head in his hands.  
“No, I…can’t” he whispered, choking on his words.  
The hidden black box vibrated, calling out for the telepath in the room. The White Queen reached out towards it.  
“Emma, I’m warning you, there’s a reason why Jean made me create that box,” Scott insisted.  
“Jean, Jean, Jean. Always Jean. Wake up, darling, Jean’s been dead for a long time now. And that box is positively leaking, infiltrating your dreams and making you remember things that your dear Jean thought better forgotten. For your sake? Or for hers? Or you both? I can’t tell.”  
“Please, don’t,” Summers whispered.  
“I’m sorry, my love. Whatever is in there, better to rip off the band-aid now than let it explode on its own.”  
Emma closed her eyes and let the box open, Scott fell down on his knees, gasping for breath as he was attacked by an onslaught of memories.  
The White Queen gulped down the tears that threatened to spill as the contents of the box hit her as well. Jean Grey might not have been strong enough to handle this, but Emma Frost could. After all, Grey had been a sheltered girl, but she on the other hand had experienced the darker side of life already in her early years.  
She lowered herself to the ground and encircled Scott in a hug, treading her fingers through his hair and whispering soothing words right into his ears.  
“Shh, darling, it’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”  
Scott hiccuped as he tried to get his sobs under control and let himself enjoy the few moments of comfort that his girlfriend’s embrace provided. Then he took a few calming breaths and stood up freeing himself from the hug. He adjusted his glasses and turning his back on her said: “I don’t think this is the time to deal with any of that.”  
“I don’t think you’re ever going to feel like it’s the right time to do that. That’s why Jean sealed it away,” Emma said sadly.  
The leader of the X-men collected his notebook and a pen and turned on his heels.  
“I’ve got to go,” he grumbled.  
“Sure, you do,” she agreed.  
He looked back at her, his expression hidden by his glasses.  
“You have to understand why I can’t…”  
“Yes, I do,” she stopped him before he could go into any more details.  
“I think I’d prefer if you kept fooling around,” he commented.  
She hugged herself closely, sighing in frustration.  
“I know you would,” she whispered, her face contracting in an expression of sorrow._

_The next three nights Emma slept alone in their bed while Scott wandered around the island, working from the break of dawn until the sun had long set, only taking a few hours to crash on the couch. She was surprised to find him in their bedroom on the fourth evening, lying with his back turned to her, fully clothed.  
She slowly made her way on the covers and lay down next to him, reaching out a hand onto his shoulder. Emma could feel him shudder slightly for a second but he quickly regained control as he recognized her, but his muscles were still clenched and tight under her fingers.  
“Do you want me to make it go away again?” she asked.  
Scott let out a soft breath, but didn’t comment.  
“You know, I wasn’t being completely fair to Jean before. She wasn’t the one who decided to hide those memories in the first place. Two guesses who it really was…,” she volunteered.  
When he didn’t reply, she continued: “Charles of course. Jean was just the one who first released the jinn from the bottle. And for your sake or for her own sanity, or for both of the two she decided it would be best for the whole thing to stay hidden.”  
At that the mutant leader finally turned around to face her, his expression unreadable as he murmured: “You’re being surprisingly nice about Jean.”  
Emma scoffed.  
“Does it surprise you that I’m not completely heartless?” she questioned, fighting the pain that threatened to spill onto hear features.  
Scott reached out a hand to cup her face.  
“No,” he said resolutely. “It’s just unusual for you to reveal it to the world.”  
“I’m not. Just to you. You know how I feel about her and that it hardly falls easy to me to be constantly compared to the one everyone around us, including you, has on a pedestal. But even I can’t deny that she loved you and would do anything to protect you. So would Charles for that matter. Even if his methods fall under the very questionable category.”  
She could feel his mind reeling, going over the painful memories and the mess of feeling towards the people that have worked to hide them from him over the years.  
“The offer still stands. Do you want me to take it away again and perhaps revisit this topic when things are different?” she reiterated.  
He pursed his lips, pondering his decision, finally coming up with an answer of a man who has had his agency taken away one too many times: “No…we don’t know whether things will be ever different.”  
She grasped his hand carefully and squeezed it lightly.  
“If that’s the case, I can teach you a psychic trick of my own for times when it gets unbearable.”_

*****

“You!” Betsy yelled as she jumped up to her feet and staggered forward almost falling down if it weren’t for Hank’s quick reflexes and swift hands that grabbed her and supported her.  
“Darling, I’m trying to save your pretty head from exploding from the onslaught that’s hidden deep inside Scott Summer’s brain, so I would appreciate if you could delay your outrage for a minute,” Matt’s body said in words that made it clear who was pulling its strings.  
“Scott, my love, we talked about this. Remember the safe place,” the blind lawyer said right before he doubled over in pain and when he rose he was Matthew Murdoch once again.  
“Are you okay, Mr. Murdoch?”  
“Yes,” he said, seething.  
“So, anyone want to point out to the estimated judge that our dear devil of hell’s kitchen has been helping fugitives?” Iron Man proposed.  
“No,” came the surprising reply from Psylocke who had regained the ground beneath her feet and sat back down next to Henry in order to catch her breath.  
“He’s as astonished about what happened as you are.”  
“What about Slim? I can barely hear his heart now and there’s pretty much no smell.”  
“I think that Frost pulled some kind of trigger in his mind that would allow him to retreat to a psychic safe place.”  
“Psychic safe place?” Captain America asked, looking for an explanation.  
“It’s a way for psychics to compartmentalize in emotionally frightening situations. It’s unusual for a non-psychic to do it, but I guess not out of the realms of possibility for someone who has been surrounded by powerful psychics all his life.”  
“Hank, how much do you know about what happened to him before the Professor got to him? I mean I knew about the crash and about the orphanage, though some of what we got today was new. But is there something else? And if there is how bad is it?” Logan asked, not liking the smells he was getting from Daredevil and Havok who seemed to be the only ones in the room to already have the full story.  
Beast sighed.  
“He never said much, only that the Professor saved him after he ran away from the orphanage. But I always had the impression that there were some gaps in his memories of that time. Ones that came after Sinister,” The furred man admitted.  
One of Logan’s claws popped up re-actively.  
“Chuck, that son of a bitch,” he cursed under his mouth. Slim and him may have had major differences over the past few years, but he couldn’t help but feel a wave of hostility against the professor who had played with the memories of a teenage boy who had just escaped the clutches of an evil psychopath who had subjected him to years of very much the same.  
“Logan, I’m sure that whatever the professor did, he did it only to protect Scott,” Hank jumped to his mentor’s defense immediately.  
“I don’t care,” Logan growled, chancing a look at the Summers brothers.  
Alex, trying to school his face into an impenetrable expression, as if trying to show that whatever he had discovered about his brother’s past didn’t make him want to scream out and kick at the world. Instead placing a calming hand on Scott’s shoulder, firmly decided to be the anchor, the one who shouldered the fall for once.  
Slim himself was not moving, sitting straight up in his chair, his body seemingly engulfed in a state of relaxation that the psychic retreat seemed to offer him.  
What scared Logan the most was a look at Matt Murdoch who stood with hunched shoulders, taking in a few calming breaths for the speech he so obviously dreaded delivering. After all this man had faced down numerous villains and earned himself the nickname Devil, but he was extremely apprehensive about sharing whatever this was. He was sure that the man had seen plenty of similar cases before, but he didn’t appear to be completely on board with the plan to reveal this. There was some smell of fear and dread on him, his senses though were focused on the audience on the other end of the room. It wasn’t that he feared saying that particular story out loud, he just dreaded the reaction that it might bring.  
This plan of attack reeked of Emma Frost. Matt Murdoch seemed to think that he was about to destroy Summers’ reputation as the stoic fearless strategic leader of the X-men and replace it with one of a scarred little boy who had to fight tooth and nail to overcome the hurdles that life threw at him. Logan had to concede that the White Queen had played this round well. Looking around himself, he could see it clearly on the faces of his fellow mutants who were already doubting their loyalty and even most of the Avengers looked pensive as the waves of sympathy hit them.  
There was no better proof than Betsy Braddock who judging by her unfocused eyes now also found herself on a different plane of existence than the rest of them in the courtroom.  


*****

Psylocke dispelled the mental barriers around the place like cobwebs in her bedroom. They might have halted most people, but in the end they were built by a non-psychic entity and thus not powerful enough to hold off her mental power.  
She looked around and found herself in a silent meadow in the midst of summer. The place looked abandoned at first, only when she looked deeper did she discover the small frame of a barely clothed boy sitting in the grass hugging his knees to his chest, only the ruby quartz glasses giving away his identity.  
“Scott?” she called out to him.  
The silhouette quickly changed from the small frame into the body of the grown men she knew, all battle ready judging based on the reflection of poor power gathering behind the visor.  
Ignoring the threat, Betsy said down opposite him crossing her legs.  
“I come in peace,” she offered.  
The man pursed his lips.  
“I don’t remember inviting you,” he said harshly.  
“I come as a friend,” she tried again.  
Scot scoffed: “I find that very hard to believe.”  
“Why? Do you think I’m the kind of person who doesn’t reach out to a friend who is obviously hurting? Or is it because you don’t consider yourself worthy enough or deserving enough of my presence?”  
“Neither. I just want to be left alone. Is that so much to ask?”  
“Yes, when you don’t actually mean it. I know you’d prefer Jean or even Emma to be here, but they can’t. But I can. If you really mean it, you can convince me that you don’t want anyone to hug you or hold your hand or just sit here with you and I’ll be gone the very moment you say it.”  
After a few moments of consideration, the man’s body shrunk back into that of a small boy.  
“Stay?” he whispered.

*****

“Now I really, really want to see that file up close,” Tony Stark gibbered to Natasha Romanoff as he grabbed out his StarkPhone from his pocket and started typing instructions to Jarvis.  
The spy exchanged an irritated roll of the eye with the Avengers’ archer.  
“Tony,” Barton started, swearing under his breath. “I really don’t think you should.”  
There was some commotion next to Logan at that, making him realize that Psylocke was the lesser of his current worries.  
“You better listen to Hawkguy,” Kitty Pryde spat out as she reached a phased hand through his back. “Or else I’ll go all solid on that heart contraption of yours.”  
Several of the Avengers jumped up from their seats, despite being aware of Tony’s idiocy, he was still their teammate and they could not let him die. Apparently the mutants in the room didn’t feel any different than them.  
“Shadowcat, stand down,” Wolwerine ordered.  
“Fine,” she spat out and after sparing him one long look she added: “You know what, Logan? I quit. This whole thing is a fucking farce anyway. You gonna let one of our own get crucified for a crime committed under the influence of a cosmic force? Fine. But don’t count on me. Not until Scarlet Witch is in an asylum for the rest of her life for the crimes she committed during her psychological break.”  
Kitty took out the hand she was holding phased inside of Iron Man’s chest and started to walk away from Logan and the Avengers, but before reaching the other side of the court, she turned around to say: “I can’t say I agree with every decision Scott has taken over the past few years, but I can recognize that he did everything he thought he had to do to ensure we survive. Without him mutant kind would not be awakening once more, but falling down over the brink of extinction. And I would be still out there in space, neither dead nor alive. The least I owe him is the benefit of the doubt.”  
She walked over and sat down next to Alex who gave her a tight smile as she clasped his hand.

*****

Matt turned to the jury as he proceeded to explain the contents of the file to them, ignoring the ruckus that had erupted in the courtroom: "You will of course be given the time to examine the evidence you were just provided with more closely as you discuss your decision, but let me explain what you're holding in your hands. It's a precise description of the memories that Professor Charles Xavier found in Scott Summer's head when he first took in him. It also contains detailed notes on every single experiment that Nathaniel Essex also known as Mr. Sinister performed on him during the four years he had him in his clutches at the orphanage. The Professor decided to attempt erasing every single memory of those leaving only the recollection of being isolated and bullied by Sinister who was also pretending to be one of the boys at the orphanage. Furthermore you will also find notes on what happened to Mr. Summers while n the care of the criminal Jack Winters, although for the longest while he only remembered being forced to use his mutant powers to commit crimes by this man, this file also tells the story of the physical abuse that Mr. Winters committed on Mr. Summers himself as well as an account by multiple gang rapes of Mr. Summers by his associates. All of this are memories that Charles Xavier tried to delete from my client's brain without his consent. Xavier made sure to take a note of every time he had to rearrange Mr. Summers brain while he was in his care. This file shows that he forcibly changed and repressed parts of the memories in his charges head seventeen times alone in the first year that the boy was in his care. Another twenty times from the age my client was sixteen until his death, including a couple of times when he forced Mr. Summers' wife Jean, a powerful telepath herself, to repress the memories when she discovered them too. Most of these twenty forcible changes to Mr. Summers' memories coincided with a time when he was considering leaving the X-men under the impact of some of the recollections of his past coming back. Because Charles Xavier considered his dream more important than the well being of the people who he claimed to love."

“Your honor, I know that the time for witness testimonies is over, but please considering the further evidence shared today, I trust you will allow me to question a few extra witnesses. Ladies and gentlemen we have by now heard several accounts of the events that lead to the demise of Professor Charles Xavier. They described the events as they saw them through their eyes, their recollection undoubtedly clouded by their perception of what they believe to be right or wrong. But there were also several psychics present on the scene who had the advantage of reading the minds of Scott Summers and Charles Xavier the very moment that one of them died. These three Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe are willing to share these thoughts with us. Understandably their words will be questioned due to their known allegiance and ties with Mr. Summers and Miss Emma Frost, but luckily there’s one more psychic in the room,” Matt explained turning towards the direction of Wolverine and his friends as the three girls took the stand.  
Psylocke stood up and said: “I’ll do it.”  
Celeste started: “We don’t find it necessary as we do not and cannot feel emotions.”  
Mindee continued: “So we have no reason to lie.”  
Phoebe finished: “But we will accept it.”  
The judge shot a tired look towards the mutant teenagers and wiped the sweat from his face as he internally wished he had never agreed to getting tangled into superpeople business.  
“Can we please have just one of you speak? Thank you.”  
Mindee and Phoebe spoke simultaneously: “We understand and will let Celeste speak for all of us, so that even mere human minds can comprehend.”  
The judge considered fining them for the disregard for the authority of the justice system, but dropped the notion as he did not feel like prolonging the nightmare of this trial any longer than needed. Instead he turned to Matt Murdoch and asked him to proceed with the questioning.  
“Could you please describe the thoughts you read from Mr. Summers and the Professor shortly before Mr. Xavier’s death?” Daredevil asked the girls.  
Celeste answered: “Sure. Which one do you want to hear first?”  
“Start with the Professor.”  
“That’s enough! Stop this foolishness, Scott!”  
“And did Cyclops answer that in any way?” Matt questioned.  
“No,” the psychic girl replied as both of her sisters shook their heads. “All he was thinking about was Miss Frost.”  
“Could you please describe his exact thoughts in words?”  
“I can try, but they were pretty mangled. He was thinking: Emma. I’m so sorry. You have to know that of all people I didn’t want to do this to you. You know better than anyone how much I detest this kind of assault. But I couldn’t let you finish your destruction.”  
“Do I understand correctly that by this point, Mr.Summers had not even noticed that the professor was speaking to him?”  
“Correct.”  
Matt made a dramatic stop in his questioning and turned in the direction of Betsy Braddock whose eyes were fixed on the teenage psychics.  
“How did Xavier continue?”  
“I’m sorry, my boy, but there’s no other way. I have to turn off your higher mental functions. Forgive me, but it’s for the good of all.”  
“And how would you describe his emotional state in that moment?”  
“He was sad, but his intent was clear. He was meaning to kill Mr.Summers with his mental powers.”  
A multitude of gasps and murmurs took over the courtroom.  
“Quiet!” the judge requested as he turned his attention to the purple haired mutant: “Miss Braddock, can you please confirm if what they’re saying is true?”  
Betsy’s voice shook: “Y..yes. She’s not lying, she’s describing exactly what they saw in all of their memories. And before anyone asks, no, there’s no sign that anyone tampered with their minds.”  
“In that case, please continue your questioning, Mr. Murdoch. Everyone else please keep order. One more word from any of you and you’ll be out of the room. And I don’t care if you call yourself Avenger or X-men or any other such nonsense. This room is a court of law and you will all abide my authority. That includes you, Mr. Stark,” the judge shot Iron Man an especially hard look and the Avenger’s gaping mouth closed as quickly as it opened.  
“What did Mr.Summer think next?”  
“Charles, no! If you give me a moment, I can get it under control. If you attack now, I won’t be able to stop it.”  
Betsy’s eyes widened as she read what the sisters saw next.  
“The Phoenix Force recognized Scott’s aversion towards people involuntarily playing with his memories and therefore identified the Professor as the enemy. Cyclops tried to contain it, but with the part of the force he took from Emma, he couldn’t stop it,” she explained.

***

As the jury examined the extra evidence and Matt was questioning the psychics, DeBois was scribbling down feverishly into his notebook, trying to rewrite his closing speech in order to make it fit the evidence provided better. In the end he ripped out all three pages and proceeded to shred them in his hands. When the judge called on him he decided to say the words as they came to him: "We feel with Mr. Summers and all the personal tragedies he had to survive as well as the hardships that his people had to endure over the years. And yet, I ask you to consider carefully whether a tragic past can truly be used to excuse a crime, even one as serious as endangering the safety of a population of almost eight billion people or the murder of another person, even if said person might have caused you a grievance in the past. You have heard several witness testimonies today of some of the most trustworthy members of the society who had seen the accused execute these crimes. As you consider the verdict, I beg you to ask yourselves - would Charles Xavier still be alive today had Scott Summers not decided to stand up to the Avengers at every turn while they tried to stop the Force that threatened to kill us all?

When the time came for Matt to make his closing speech, he was far better prepared:“We maintain that our client is innocent. The evidence combined with witness testimonies have also proved as much. The Avengers have invaded the soil of Utopia in an attempt to take my client’s grand-daughter who happened to be a minor in his care at this time into their custody without his consent. When he declined they resorted to force and fought the mutants who were only protecting their home. Captain America and his team were acting based on information they received from a man whose plan to resolve the situation was to murder an innocent teenage girl preemptively and whose judgement was clouded by his previous negative experience of the Phoenix force. They stepped in to prevent a plan that our client had devised only to turn to the plan themselves once they exhausted all other options. Further we have proved that our client was acting under the influence of an external force that he never intended to take for himself, but which was thrust onto him and his colleagues through Tony Stark’s invention. Once he was in a possession of said force he tried to turn the world into a better peaceful world for everyone. Free of the force now, he acknowledges that even that kind of dictatorship is wrong, but at the same time given that we have shown today the plight that his people have had to survive in the past few decades his actions are somewhat understandable. While some of his compatriots unfortunately chose the power that they gained through the Phoenix to start wars, he himself became absolutely corrupted by this force only once the Avengers decided to provoke the Phoenix Five into fighting each other and taking the parts of the force for themselves. If you want to blame Scott Summers for endangering Earth, consider that you’ll be condemning the very man who came up with the plan that saved our planet. What’s next after that? Will we also accuse and condemn Tony Stark for causing the situation where individuals who were not ready to take on this kind of power gained it while trying to destroy the force in an attempt to protect our world? Or are we to judge Captain America for invading an island and jump starting a war between all the heroes of Earth in good faith that he was saving all our lives from doom? Maybe we ought to put all of them in jail for their crimes. Except a war was already once waged among them for this very same reason and we all know how that ended. The fact of the matter is that we live in a world where our planet is exposed to all kinds of extra-terrestrial risks from which only the said heroes can protect us. Do they all make mistakes? Yes. Do their actions sometimes cause harm? Yes. But do they always prevail in the end and save the world? I would argue that they do, after all Earth is still here, safe and sound.” 

“As for the second charge – the murder of Professor Charles Xavier. The prosecution has tried to convince you all that my client committed a cold blooded murder of a man who once took him in and grew to love him as his own son. But what we have also shown today is that Charles Xavier was certainly no saint himself. He rescued a severely abused and traumatized child from the clutches of his previous tormentors and offered him education and a home. Yet he didn’t do so out of the purity of his own heart, his communication with Moira McTaggert that we have shown you earlier has confirmed that he saved this child while having a purpose for him in mind. To make sure that he could accomplish the role of the leader of the professor’s band of child soldiers, the renowned telepath rearranged his brain in order to bury the child’s past abuses so deep in his brain that only another strong telepath could uncover it. He denied him the chance to deal with the damage that had been done to him, because he put his dream before the well-being of the minor in his care. He’d resort to these kinds of measures whenever he deemed that the emotional recovery of his charge was not fast enough. Case in point the moment when Charles Xavier decided to remove the memory of the existence of my client’s youngest brother Gabriel after he had sent him and his friends to their deaths. Considering all this information we pertain that the Avengers and Charles Xavier made a huge mistake when they chose him as the person who they thought to be able to reason with Scott Summers while under the full influence of the Phoenix force. Few of the people present in this room would be able to cope with the person who had played around in their brains in the past whenever he felt like it once again trying to attack their mind on the best of days, yet alone when they were trying to contain a power far beyond their scope. Yet witness testimony has proved that despite the influence of the power, Scott Summers did try to resist attacking the professor even as the telepath was about to turn off his higher brain functions, turning the man whom he loved as his own son into little more than a vegetable. How can you call something murder when there’s proof that the accused party acted in self-defense? And even if you were to change the charge to manslaughter, how can you hold a man guilty for an action that he tried his best to stop? There’s no denying that Scott Summers loved this man as a child loves his father. Despite all the lies, all the manipulation and the life path that the professor chose for him. And he will have to live with the knowledge that he was the gun that killed him. Even if he has not pulled the trigger, he will have to live with that piece of knowledge for the rest of his life. Do you truly believe that he deserves any more punishment than that for an action that he couldn’t possibly prevent?” 

Against all expectations, the negotiations of the jury only took about an hour before they were able to come to an almost singular agreement. In the end the not guilty vote prevailed with ten of the members supporting this decision, another one abstaining and only one speaking for not guilty. “Betsy,” Scott projected towards the purple haired mutant who had come to sit besides Alex along with Warren and Bobby. “Can you patch me through to Matt? I need to relay the next part of the plan to him?”  
“There’s another part of the plan?”  
“Yeah.” "Your honor, might I have your attention for another minutes please?" the blind lawyer addressed the court after a brief deliberation with the mutant leader. "Given the result of today's trial, I believe there are at least two other people who were wrongfully accused of actions taken under the influence of the Phoenix Force. I believe we have established a precedent today that a person shall not be convicted for deeds done while they're not in full control of their bodies. As we're all gathered today, we might as well clean at least these two more names in this matter." While the lawyer was making his speech, Scott scribbled _now_ into his notebook only for Illyana Rasputin and Emma Frost to appear in the courtroom as Magneto himself circled in the air over the protesters outside the court building. 

*****

Alex sighed as he turned to his brother and his girlfriend: “I’ll buy you some time, so that you guys can talk.”  
Scott shot his brother a grateful look.  
Emma approached him and put her palm on his face as she captured his mouth with a small kiss.  
“Sorry,” she said, letting go of him. “It’s the eyes, I couldn’t help myself.”  
“Would you like me to keep them this way?” he asked.  
“No.”  
Emma rummaged in her purse and took out a pair of ruby quartz shades which she put on his face. She turned into her diamond form and the power inhibitor crumpled to pieces below her fingers.  
“This is who you are, Scott Summers,” she insisted.  
He responded with an insecure smile as he pondered her words.  
“Well at least these,” he said, pointing to the glasses. “Will make the next conversation easier. I guess this is it, isn’t it? The two of us, we’re done, right?”  
Returning to her normal form, Emma shook her head and turned around so that he couldn’t see her face: “You still don’t get it.”  
Then she spoke directly in his mind: ”I want you. All of you, and I want you to be whole. Hell, I want to help you to be whole again. I only ever went to Namor or Stark because you kept pushing me away. But it’s always been you for me. I love you, Scott Summers. We’re great you and I, given what we’ve both had to endure, but you and I together? I think we can be magnificent.”  
The once White Queen tried to conceal the tears that still threatened to escape her eyes as she heard Scott’s steps behind her. She startled when one of his cold hands touched her face in order to wipe the moisture from her cheekbone. A pair of strong arms encircled her in a hug and he put his head on one of her shoulders as he projected a loud thought in her direction: “I think I’d like that. And I love you too and I’m sorry if I haven’t said it enough in the past.”  
“Me too,” she murmured.

***

“Humanity first, right? How many innocent humans are you willing to murder today for one dead mutant?” the young man asked as he reached out his hands towards the two people standing on either side of him.  
Slowly all of the pro-mutant protesters started linking their fingers and forming a firm human chain in front of the mutants who had grouped themselves in front of the building.  
“You’d die for the mutie scum?” one of the attackers growled.  
“Yes,” several voices said.  
“They’ve said my mom’s life and many others when San Francisco was attacked.”  
The leaders of the mob seemed to be considering whether to continue with their assault. However the policemen and the New Defenders used the gap between the two groups newly created by the live chain circling around the mutants and formed a line between the two opposing groups.  
“Should we step in?” Kitty wondered.  
“Let’s wait for Scott,” Illyana suggested.  
As Scott and Emma walked out of the court’s building, they were all waiting for them – X-men and news crews and cameramen alike.  
“Mr. Summers, Mr. Summers, Cyclops,” the reporters called for him and asked: ”What now? What are you planning next?”  
Scott looked around himself at the faces of his fellow mutants, friends, comrades in arms and family. He could see the apprehension and expectations in their eyes. They were all glued onto him, once again expecting him to be the leader who would show them where to go next. He smiled at them as he turned to the microphones.  
“For the first time in years we are seeing new mutants appearing all across the world. They’re only just coming into bloom, but already they’re being persecuted, demonized, hunted down or abandoned. Not just by the extremists, but by their families and friends and in many cases even the authorities. I say we’re not going to have it, not on our watch,” as he was finishing his heated speech he noticed a group of people leaving the building.  
Mostly Avengers who were being herded out by Steve Rogers while the reporters kept their focus on Cyclops and the mutants. But among them, two of his former friends – Henry offered him and his group a spiteful look and marched on with his head down, Wolverine on the other hand stopped in his tracks watching Scott with a calculating expressions as he intently listened to his words.  
The mutant leader continued: “We will be there for all the new mutants who need our help and consider anyone who dares to hurt them unprovoked a public enemy of the X-men. We will not allow slaughter of our fellow mutants ever again. At the same time I do still wish to believe in Professor’s Xavier’s dream and hope that one day humans and mutants will be able to live side by side peacefully. However I fear that day might come later than we all hoped for. But it’s still something we all here,” he gestured to the people behind him and his heart jumped slightly when he saw Logan standing next to Rogue shooting him a sheepish grin.  
“We all here share,” he kept on fighting a slight quiver to his voice: “We strive to achieve that dream one day. Should the Avengers or any other heroes of Earth require our assistance to save human lives or to fight threats to the planet we all share, we’re ready to join forces and fight alongside them as equals even if they have not always given our species the same benefit. Thank you,” he finished and before anyone could ask any more questions he turned to Emma and the other psychics.  
“Just one more thing to do here?” he suggested.  
“Of course, darling.”  
Emma, Psylocke and the Cuckoos touched their foreheads and the mob of anti-mutant protesters dropped to the ground as one.  
“Sweet dreams, you little fucks,” the former White Queen commented.  
“I really hope you didn’t give them any nightmares.”  
As Ilyana engulfed all of them and teleported them to the Jean Grey school so that they could start the work ahead of them, Emma answered: “Don’t worry. We just made them dream about sheep. After all, that’s what they are.”  



End file.
